A well-intended tribute and love song to a man depicted as unique, above the rest. The film opens by the seaside, as if hours after Marcello was there in La Dolce Vita. All throughout, Scola seeks to tell segments of Fellini's life in an attempt to return and recreate a moment like that one (Marcello gazing upon the Umbrian angel Paula), a Fellinean miracle, and it's a testament to Fellini's greatness that he fails.